Interview: Leroy Sanchez Talks Being Discovered On YouTube, Touring With Kate Voegele & More

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If you haven't heard of Leroy Sanchez chances are he could very well be the next household name. This singer-songwriter has broken a language barrier to become one of the most promising acts that originated from YouTube.

Sanchez hails from Vitoria, Spain and according to his bio, "he taught himself how to play guitar and developed his voice entirely by ear." This artist began uploading videos of his own covers to YouTube to some pretty positive responses.

After being asked to fly to Florida to meet with super producer Jim Jonsin, Sanchez's career has been on a steady ascent as he is now accompanying Kate Voegele on "The Wild Card Tour."

"I've been playing shows since I was 16 before YouTube but nothing compared to what it is now," Sanchez said in an exclusive interview.

"It's amazing to transition from YouTube to live shows where I can actually see my fans and get to talk to them.

It's such an amazing thing to put a face to all those comments in YouTube or likes on Facebook."

As a young artist its was pretty hard for him to believe that a prestigious producer like Jonsin wanted to work with him to extend his talent beyond YouTube videos.

"When I found out who he was and the people he had worked with I couldn't believe it," he said. "He's done some of the biggest records in hip hop and R&B and worked with artists like Beyonce, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Rowland and so many more. It took me a while to realize the weight of his offer."

Sanchez took the offer and is now in the studio making more music for his fans to enjoy. He recently released his brand new single "By My Side" and described the surprising writing process behind it.

"I started writing this song in my room and I had this simple guitar line and melodies that I was in love with," explained Sanchez.

"With the melodies I had a bunch of words that didn't really make sense but then we sent the idea to Rico Love who put the words together and wrote these amazing lyrics in a few minutes."

Love has worked with huge names in the industry including Chris Brown, Nelly, Fergie and was responsible for Beyonce's "Sweet Dreams," which Sanchez posted a six second cover of to his Vine account.

"He is one of the most talented people I've ever knew and I'm so lucky I had the chance to work with him."

Now that Sanchez is on "The Wild Card Tour" with singer-songwriter Kate Voegele, he says that they two have hung out and she exchanged some pretty helpful information with him.

"We are constantly hanging out, I mean, we live in the same van," said Sanchez.

"The entire crew is amazing and I'm having the time of my life! She's definitely been doing this way longer that I have and she knows all the tricks.

One of the most important things I've learned from her is that sleeping and eating healthy on the road is extremely necessary if you want to continue doing this for long periods of time."

Voegele is famous for her role as Mia Catalano on the hit CW show "One Tree Hill," as well as her amazing voice that was also a focal point of her role in the show.

While on tour Sanchez is starting realize just how big he is becoming and is pretty happy with the way fans are reacting to his music.

"They are the best," Sanchez exclaimed, "in one of the shows in Austin I had a crowd so loud that when I got out of the green room I felt like Justin Bieber, it was crazy!"

Sanchez said that he had no idea that YouTube would help him reach the heights of stardom that he has thus far and that he merely started it for fun as well as to receive feedback on his voice.

"I only wanted to know what other people thought about my voice, it still blows my mind when I see the amount of views some of my videos get."

The main goal for Sanchez is making music that represents who he is in hopes that his personality and experiences will emanate through the music he creates.

"I honestly just want to do music I like and that feels part of who I am and who I want to be; and hopefully my fans will also like it."

Currently, Sanchez says he is listening to a lot of new music since there's a lot of downtime while traveling on tour.

"I've been listening to James Bay, St Vincent and D'Angelo."

Sanchez has not forgotten those who have helped him get to where he has.

He knows that the fans play a huge role in his success and left a little message for them saying, "They are seriously the best and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am today so, thank you all so much! And I can't wait for them to listen to what's about to come!"

There is no target date for his album but he says that he is still working on it. In the meantime, fans can get a taste of Sanchez's pure talent through his single "By My Side," available on iTunes.

They can also check out his YouTube page or Vine page for new covers of some of the most popular songs.